


Of Packers and Bad Dye Jobs

by kai_foxflight



Series: A World Beyond [5]
Category: SHINee, f(x)
Genre: Forced Prostitution, Homelessness, Homophobic Language, Minor Character Death, Multi, Past Abuse, Prostitution, Trans Character, Transphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-05 15:43:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11581143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kai_foxflight/pseuds/kai_foxflight
Summary: Running away seems to be the only way to stop the police from charging them with murder.





	Of Packers and Bad Dye Jobs

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: running from the police

**_Running from the police_ **

 

“Man, get up! Jonghyun, please, this is serious!”

“Hyung, really, quick, we need to go!” Jonghyun groaned, the two sets of hands shaking him doing little to rouse him. Unwilling to wait any longer, Taemin leaned down, grabbing the elder’s arm and slinging it over his shoulder. He pulled up, getting Jonghyun on his feet shakily and grabbed around the other’s waist. “Just go open doors and make sure the way’s clear.”

Amber passed him a glance before running ahead. Just before the door, she paused. “You take him yourself. I have to do something and I’ll be out in a minute.”

“What the hell Amber? This isn’t the time—” He heard a siren outside and cursed, looking at the still-drunk guy in his arms and then to the girl running further in the apartment. “Don’t get yourself killed!” And he ducked through the door, running as best he could while dragging Jonghyun like a dead weight with him.

Exactly a minute later, Amber was running out after him, backpack on her back and two in her arms, stuffed as full as she could with the limited time. Just as she slid out the window for the emergency escape, the door of the apartment was thrown open, more than one officer rushing in and just missing her great escape.

...

Jonghyun was in better shape a few hours later as they walked along the train tracks in silence, bags weighing on their backs and feet stumbling on the stones in heat of the day. “So… Eunsook is dead?”

“Yeah…”

“And they think we killed her?”

“Kind of.”

“Where the hell did they get that idea from?” Taemin couldn’t help it—it definitely wasn’t a situation to be laughing in, but he snorted at the elder’s blunt question ruined only by his croaky voice from the night previous. “Yah, Taemin, not cool.”

“Sorry…”

“So why?”

“Apparently we were the last ones seen with her.” Amber kicked a pebble, watching with disinterest as it flew ahead and hit the metal tracks. “And we were by the river where she was found.”

“You know this how?”

“I was the first one they took in for questioning.” She heaved a sigh. “Because every girl loves to be accused of killing her girlfriend.”

“Questioning isn’t accusing.”

“It is when they start saying there are witnesses that claim they saw us do it.” There was a pause of heavy silence. “I ran as soon as I was out of the room. Couldn’t even catch me making my grand escape; what good are those officers anyway?”

A train whistle blared in the distance and the three jumped, glancing at each other for less than a second before diving for bushes in different directions. Only after the train had gone past did they crawl out, Taemin’s eyes still trained in the direction it went. “What’s up with you, man?”

“I think I know how to get us far away very fast.”

...

“Just fucking jump Jjong! We’ll catch you!”

The eldest swallowed hard, his feet stumbling as he fought to keep up, more and more distance being placed between him and the two on the back of the train. “Jump!”

He didn’t hesitate, throwing himself forward and just barely being caught on each arm by Amber and Taemin. With all their might, they pulled him up and in, tumbling into a pile in the empty car of the freight train. Huffing and puffing, it was almost a minute later that they rolled apart, all staring up at the ceiling without moving. A few seconds later, Amber started laughing, curling in on herself from the force. “We actually just did that.”

“Yeah,” Taemin chuckled, “we did.”

“The police might not be able to arrest us for murder, but they can for this.” Jonghyun snorted. “Who would have thought accusing the innocent would turn them into criminals?”

“Oh come on, you hardly did anything. You could claim we forced you on here and you followed to save your life, and it’d probably be sound to the police.” Amber snorted. “You’re a scaredy cat.”

“You would be too when—”

“I did the same exact thing as you with only one person to pull me up.”

“And I did it on my own with no fear.” Taemin smirked. “As well as two bags on my back and one thrown right after me.”

“Well that’s lovely that I’m surrounded by psychos that don’t know fear.” Jonghyun threw them both a look. “But how are we supposed to get off here?”

“Simple.” Taemin motioned to the open door. “Jump when it’s slowed down and near where we need to be.”

“And that might be where?”

“Somewhere we won’t ever be found.”

“Oh crap that’s right!” Amber scrambled to sit up, rummaging through her pockets. “Cell phones. Get rid of them.”

“How?”

She pulled hers out, ripping open the back cover and pulling out the battery and taking out the SIM card with little care. Without explaining why, she bent it against the ground of the cart until it snapped. “Keep the battery and we can sell it. Same for your phone, Jjong. There’s no trackers in something that old.” She pocketed her phone and battery again, throwing the pieces of the card out the open door a few seconds apart from each other. “And sorry Tae but the iPhone has got to go all together.”

“Not like I liked it anyway. Just give me a second. Have a pen?” She scrambled for one from the pocket of her coat, tossing it to him once it was found. For a few minutes, he scrolled through the phone, writing a few numbers on his arm before pulling his sleeve back over it. And then he was tapping away on his phone again. “If you’re keeping your phone, clear it. Complete restore. Write down any numbers you want, but don’t expect to call them for a while.” Then he threw the phone out the opening, watching it fly to the ground before they sped past. “Same for you Jjong.”

“You guys watch too many crime shows…”

...

“One of us should stay up to keep watch, right?”

“Not for the whole night but yeah… probably.” Amber glanced at Taemin as he nodded along. “I guess I’ll stay up first…”

“Not the best idea. I’ll do it.” Taemin glanced out the open door when the two turned to him. “Jjong’s still messed up from drinking last night—”

“Am not!”

“—and you’ve been up since early at the station. So both of you sleep now. But figure out who has the next shift so I know who the wake.” Without waiting for either of them to respond, he moved towards the door, sitting just past the area where wind whipped in and able to look out at where they were passing. “And if I decide we are far enough away or we are stopping for the night, I’ll wake both of you right away.”

“Aye aye captain!” Jonghyun smirked when Taemin threw an annoyed glance his way. “I’ll watch next.”

“You sure you’re up for that?”

“No way I’m letting you do it. You deserve to just rest and be upset right now.”

“We all deserve that but that’s only going to get us caught and charged, now isn’t it?” The bite of her voice left with the same heavy sigh she gave after. “Thanks, but I doubt I’m getting much sleep so we’ll only wake you if we need to.”

“Whatever you want.” Jonghyun grabbed his bag, patting it a few times to find the softest spot before laying down on it. “But come here.”

“What for?”

“Sleep closer and we’ll be warmer.” He wrapped an arm around her leg, pulling her close against her will. After a few moments of stiff awkwardness, Amber eventually relaxed, using Jonghyun’s chest and arm as her pillow as she laid awake long after he passed out.

Eventually, after hours past with just the noise of breathing and rattling cars, she crawled out from under the arm to sit in the moonlight with Taemin. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Eunsook would have loved to see the moon tonight… she always loved looking at the night sky with me.”

“I’m really sorry—”

“Don’t apologize for things that aren’t your fault and that you can’t change.” She gave a shaky smile, brushing away a few tears before they ran down her cheeks. “I just want them to find who really killed her and make them pay.”

“I’m sure they will.”

“Not if they spend forever searching for us. And if they catch us, they will think they caught the people and won’t continue and this is entirely unfair.” She rushed to wipe away more tears, but Taemin was quicker, his thumb ghosting over her cheeks before pushing a lock of her long hair behind her ear.

“And you’re completely right. But she’s going to watch over us and make sure nothing bad happens to any of us, won’t she?”

“I just wish she were still here…” Taemin didn’t bother to say anything back, instead wrapping his arms around Amber’s shoulders and just holding her as the moon rose higher and then started to sink. At some point, their positions changed so that Amber was lying with her head in his lap, his fingers running through the long black hair as she slept. And by the time the sun started to peek up over the horizon, he was smiling gently at the calm girl.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Jonghyun crouched behind him, whispering quietly as he hands found their way to Taemin’s shoulders, massaging them harshly to work out the kinks from spending the night sitting that way.

“Didn’t feel a need to. I’m not tired.”

“But you will be later.”

“Well then I’ll sleep later. It’ll be good to have someone used to being up all night, no?”

“Not when your sucky eyes barely help us. You only have one pair of contacts, don’t you? That’s not going to last you long.” With a large yawn, Jonghyun plopped down to sit on the ground properly behind Taemin, his hands not stopping their ministrations.

“I brought my glasses. Just trying to not wear them for a few days.”

“Why?”

“There’s no pictures of me in them.”

“…So?”

Taemin gave a quick chuckle, leaning back to relax into Jonghyun’s chest slightly. “So~ we don’t want there to be any. Then it’s a good disguise. Because we really need to be thinking about this long-term.”

“What do you mean  _ long-term _ ? This is only until they find the actual person and realize we didn’t—”

“How long will that be though, Jjong? Think about it. They blamed us right from the start. This isn’t a fair case—it’s set up against us by someone.” Taemin let his eyes slip closed, tricking Jonghyun into thinking he fell asleep at first. “So who knows? It might be a week or a month or hell Jjong we might be doing this for years. Hopping trains to new places every month so no one catches on, changing names, hiding everywhere.”

“We won’t be doing that.”

“We don’t know Jjong. All I know is that I’m not letting either of you be the first to be caught. I’d give myself in before that happened, so you guys can’t go and ruin it all after that. Understand?”

...

“We should be getting off pretty soon so I’m going to explain this now and you better listen so you don’t die.” Amber snorted at Taemin’s bluntness, but Jonghyun’s eyes widened as he looked at the youngest. “Pretty much, you wait until the train is slowed to about walking speed-ish. Then you drop your bag out and you sit your ass down right on the edge and drop down but  _ keep walking with the train _ for a second before you let go and stop. Understood?” Jonghyun nodded with all of his might while Amber just shrugged. “I’ll go first and I’m taking any loose things with me. Jjong, your sorry ass is second, and Amber is the last.”

“Should I even ask how you know this, Minnie?”

The boy smirked for a second, eyes taking on an evil tint with the way the sunlight filtered in. “I grew up in the country, hyung. You think I really paid to come into the city every single week to see you?” Amber snorted out a laugh, biting her hand to not make it any louder as Taemin raised an eyebrow at Jonghyun. “I might love you, but I don’t love you to spend $20 round trip each week when I can do it for free.”

“I’m dating a criminal.”

“We’re all criminals now so… yeah.” Taemin stuck his tongue out, scrunching up his face to make it funnier. “But you still love me~”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

“Oh really?” He leaned forward, uncrossing his legs as he looked out the opening. “Then who will you find that will do  _ this _ ,” Taemin pounced forward without any warning, pushing Jonghyun down onto the floor of the metal car and straddling his waist as his hands held down the elder male’s by their wrists, “and like it, but still let you fuck them?” He placed a gentle kiss on Jonghyun’s nose, then his lips, before climbing off as if nothing happened. “Hmm, hyung?”

“Shush.” And Amber didn’t even try to hide her laughter.

Taemin glanced out the opening once again, grimacing once he did. “It’s just about time to get off now. Give me the heaviest bag.” Amber reached for it, sliding it across the floor to the boy as he crawled closer to the doorway. Slowly, the two others followed to watch just how it was done. Crouched with a hand on the wall to steady himself, Taemin stuck his head out and looked both ways before pulling it back in and shaking his wind-blown hair out. “Watch and learn.” He waited just another minute before grabbing the bag and gently dropping it out, sliding onto the edge and leaving his legs dangling then. With a glance over his shoulder and a smirk, he dropped down, hand still on the edge as he jogged along for a second. “Wait just another minute for it to slow more then follow. I’m going to get the bags as I walk up to you.” And then his hand disappeared and he was gone.

Jonghyun turned to Amber, gave a hard swallow, and then grabbed his bag. “I’m really doing this…”

“Yes, you are.  _ Before _ we get in trouble at the station. Go, pretty boy.” He dropped the pack down, glancing back at Taemin just getting his so much further down the track than it seemed. And then he sat and jumped. Amber only laughed at the sheer panic on his face before he let go, getting ready to follow less than a second later. When she jumped down, she stumbled on a rock underfoot, almost tipping under right before hands grabbed her waist and pulled the other way, sending them both tumbling down to the ditch beside the tracks. “Ow!”

“Of all of us to almost die, of course it would be you.” Jonghyun smirked when she rolled over to look at him, eyes twinkling with mischief. “Lucky I was there to save you, right?”

“Oh shut it asshole. I would have been fine myself—without falling down a ditch.” She slowly stood, massaging her sore wrist before dusting off her clothes and looking at a smirking Jonghyun. “Wipe that grin off of your face.”

“You know you would have gone under if I was there.”

“Yeah, sure, but I would have gone right to the tracks and curled up in a ball and been between the wheels until the train passed so I would have been perfectly fine.” She clawed her way back up the slope, limping along the tracks until she got her bag and lifted it up onto her back. With Jonghyun following, she walked to his as well, grabbing it and throwing before sitting down on the rail and glancing at Taemin jogging towards them in the distance. “Just how fast was it going when he jumped?”

“A lot faster than I think he expected.” Jonghyun snorted, sitting beside her and wrapping an arm over her shoulders. “So… that was pretty fun, wasn’t it?”

“More so than I expected it to be, I admit.” When Taemin was just a hundred feet or so from them, Amber stood and dusted off her pants again. By the time she and Jonghyun straightened, he was there and barely winded.

“Ready to go then?”

...

“Perfect~” Taemin spun in a circle, arms wide as if he was trying to hold the whole barn at once. “I can’t believe this is still here and standing.”

“You know where we are?”

“Of course.” He gave a small smile at the two. “Remember the train I was telling you about Jjong? You just rode it.”

“ _ This _ is your hometown?” The eldest turned to look back out the open doors of their abandoned barn, at the empty roads they had just walked. “There’s nothing here.”

“Not quite…” He threw his bag down, sitting on an old bale of hay. “I just saw this place a lot on the way into the city. Thought it would always be a good place to hide. But in just a few days it’s going to be bustling like crazy as people come back to work on their fields.”

“Until then though, we have a roof and some warmth.”

Taemin nodded to Amber. “Exactly.” Jonghyun joined in as if he knew what he was agreeing to. “It’s also the perfect place to get some food and stuff to keep packed.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll show you tonight. Until then…” He stood from the hay he was sitting on and grabbed a pair of scissors from the wall behind him. “We should probably do some makeovers.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“There’s probably pictures of us out there by now, seeing as it’s been probably around 36 hours.” He spun them on his finger as if it was the easiest thing in the world, only to mess up and have them fall with a clatter and a slight cut on his wrist. With an embarrassed smile, he kicked them around as he continued. “So now that everyone can recognize us, let’s make it so they can’t.”

“You mean—”

“You’re long hair should probably go, Amber.” He bent down to get the scissors, eyes never leaving the girl. “I know you really like it but it’ll grow back eventually and you’ll look really different without it.”

“Fine, I guess.”

“ _ Really _ ?”

“Just do it before I change my mind.” Taemin hesitated for just a second and Amber huffed, grabbing the scissors from his hand. With one hand, she yanked all of her hair back and up, while the other get ready with the scissors for the final snip. Only after long black strands started to fall to the ground around her did any of them realize just what had happened. “Just make it look nice, okay?” Without a word, Jonghyun grabbed the scissors dangling from her fingers and went behind her, working as best he could to straighten out the back as tears silently fell down her cheeks.

It took only a few minutes for Taemin to pull up a wooden crate and push her down to sitting on it, swiping the scissors from Jonghyun’s hand as he started to cut it much faster than the elder had. Amber’s eyes slide closed, not wanting to see as he snipped away at it all, cutting out around her ears, making bangs, cutting the back straight across. Eventually, though, the snipping of the scissors stopped as he stood back and cleared his throat. “There you go… isn’t it liberating? No more hair to get caught everywhere, right?” He gave a humorless chuckle that no one even bothered to mimic. “Don’t worry, Amber. It’ll grow back eventually.”

“Eunsook and I were going to get our hair cut together today.” The monotone words shocked Jonghyun and Taemin frozen. “She was going to finally get her hair cut ‘all nice and pretty’ as she said, and I was going to get mine cut short. Because people would mistake me as a guy and I thought that would make her more comfortable in going out with me, where she would pass as the girl and I the guy and not the other way around like we’d faced for years.” She swallowed hard, finally lifting her head now that the tears stopped, and gave Taemin and Jonghyun a shaky smile. “So thank you for granting her last wish, even partially.”

“You can break Jonghyun’s nose if it will make you feel better.”

“Yeah you can— _ what _ ?” Amber gave a sad laugh when Jonghyun whipped around to face Taemin. “No she  _ cannot. _ ”

“It has to be done either way. So you let her do it and it’ll be done nicely or I’ll do it with the shit shovel on the wall without caring what else I hit.” Taemin met eyes with his boyfriend and didn’t falter. “Your choice.”

“You better make it fucking quick Amber.”

“Wait why am I breaking his nose?” She glanced between the two quickly, not getting an answer from either at first.

“My hair is too short to do anything with that will make me less recognizable and my nose stands out a whole lot.” Jonghyun groaned when Taemin smirked at the explanation. “So let me take out my piercing and lay on some hay and then you can bash my nose in with anything but the pooper-scooper.”

“How about a door? Reenact Spongebob?” There was a groan but Jonghyun nodded.

“Fine I guess. Just make sure it is quick.”

“Got it.” She glanced between the two before looking over at the door. “You might want to share one last kiss before that becomes excruciating for a while.” Without waiting for a reply, she turned heel and walked towards it, her back to them to give some privacy.

And it was definitely needed as the two were lip-locked the second her back was turned. Taemin’s arms wrapped around Jonghyun’s neck as the older boy rested his on the smaller one’s waist, and Taemin let Jonghyun have control as an apology for what was to come. It was only when Amber cleared her throat a few minutes later that they pulled apart, Jonghyun’s tongue leaving Taemin’s mouth and a string of saliva between them for a second. “I said  _ one _ .”

“It counts as one if we never broke apart.” He took one step towards the door, then another, then another, before stopping suddenly. “Didn’t you pack a first aid kit? Was there any pain medicine?”

“Probably.”

“Shouldn’t I take that first?”

“I  _ guess _ .” Taemin chuckled as he went for the bag Amber pointed to, digging for a second before pulling out the full bottle and doling out a few. Jonghyun took them and swallowed dry. “Ready  _ now _ , princess?”

“Just smash a door in my face already.”

“Well come here then; I can’t bring it to you.” In more than a few short steps, Jonghyun was by Amber and the large door that was soon going to be making a new home dead center in his face. “Be ready to catch him, Taemin.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” But he still placed his hands on the low of Jonghyun’s back, feeling his boyfriend quake in place without saying anything. “I promise it won’t hurt as much as you think.”

“Can you just knock me out with it?”

“That’s going to be more dangerous. You might not wake up.”

“Why can’t we break  _ your _ nose?” Amber snorted, pulling the door back a little now that Jonghyun was distracted and not focused on the even movement. “I mean, your hair is about as short as mine.”

“But do you want to grow that out?” Jonghyun was silent for a second. “Didn’t think so. You won’t be mistaken as a girl anyway. I stand a chance at that.”

“You’d make a hot girl.”

“Hey, Jonghyun~” He turned just in time for the wood to smash into him with a loud crack, the air of the barn seeming to still for only a second before Taemin was stuffing a hand in Jonghyun’s house to muffle a scream. Blood poured down, mixing with tears that spilled from his eyes without a care to stop them.

His mouth was moving even around Taemin’s hand and when he pulled it out, the two were met with the full-force of the stumbling teen’s wrath. “Fuck both of you. Fuck you and everything you do and the two of you totally owe me for this and I’m never trusting either of you again. Fuck your ugly ass faces that couldn’t handle the magnificence of mine and decided to ruin it and fuck you Amber for actually doing that and fuck you Taemin for letting her.”

“I’ll make it up to you later if you stop talking. You’re only making it hurt more.” Taemin rubbed his shoulder comfortingly, waiting until Jonghyun calmed down before pulling on the edge of the injured one’s shirt. “Let’s get this off and use it to stop the bleeding.”

“You expect me to freeze?”

“What did I say about talking?” Jonghyun quieted, slowly lifting his arms so Taemin could help him wiggle out of the white long-sleeved shirt that was already stained with blood. Amber even joined in, eventually getting it off without hurting the eldest and bunching it up into a giant wad before Taemin crouched in front of him. “Ready to punch me?”

Jonghyun didn’t speak but instead turned his head slightly to the side—just in time for Taemin to get closer and grab the back of his head, pushing the wad of cloth against the broken nose slightly. Immediately, Jonghyun’s hands flew up to grab onto Taemin’s neck, blunt nails digging in and even drawing blood in places, but Taemin took it all without complaint. After a few minutes, he relaxed his hold slightly, letting Jonghyun do the same. “I think it’s not gushing anymore… Can you let go of me so I can look, baby?” The grip left completely and Taemin leaned back as he pulled the soaked cloth away. No more blood was dripping, only staining the injured face, and Taemin smiled a little. “All good.” Without warning, he leaned forward, careful to not hit anything as he gave a small peck to Jonghyun’s lips. “Good boy. I’ll cut your hair tomorrow.”

There wasn’t even a protest as Jonghyun slowly leaned down to lay on the bale, curling up on himself when he could. “Just sleep~ it’ll feel better tomorrow.”

 

“You’re a fucking liar Lee Taemin.” Taemin groaned, opening his eyes against the sunlight just to slam them back closed.

“’Bout?”

“It does not feel any fucking better and my voice sounds like shit like do you hear  _ this _ this is not sexy in the slightest and it is all your fucking fault and you better make it up to me somehow.”

“You’re sexy; voice or not.”

“Well lovely but fix it.” Jonghyun gestured to his bloody face. “I look like I murdered someone and ate them piece by piece.”

Taemin groaned, sitting up without opening his eyes and twisting to crack his back before he finally looked at Jonghyun. “It’s not  _ that _ bad.”

“Amber saw me during the night and screamed.”

“She screamed because I was fucking sucking you off.” Taemin ran a hand through his blond hair, picking out a few pieces of hay before smirking at Jonghyun’s speechlessness. “Come on. We’ll wash you up.” He stood up slowly, brushing off his clothes before starting to walk, passing silently past the still-sleeping Amber and out the door with Jonghyun in tow. “There’s a water spigot on the house that Amber and I used to fill up some bottles last night. It’s just a little cold.”

“Well I’m freezing so nothing’s going to make a difference now.”

“We got you a shirt from inside too. And some jackets.” He gestured to the foreign jumper he was wearing. For a few minutes, they were silent as Taemin led the way and eventually turned the water on. When Jonghyun started washing, it turned into muffled and drowned curses, until he was clean and shivering. “Done?”

“You tell me. My face clean?”

“As clean as it’s gonna be.” Taemin’s eyes were trained on something down the street, not moving even as he spoke to Jonghyun. “Because we gotta run.”

“What?”

“People are here.”

...

Under a bridge halfway between stations of the train, Amber was laughing as Jonghyun pawed constantly at the front of Taemin’s shirt, moaning nonstop about his pain. “Your fault for thinking snorting would be a good idea.”

“You’re the one that told the joke!”

“Doesn’t mean you have to laugh at it!” Amber’s laughter got louder. “It’s true!”

“It’s really amazing,” she was interrupted by her own chuckles, “that you’re like this now but last night—”

“Do  _ not _ talk about last night.” Even with the two perfectly in-sync, Amber didn’t back down from under their glare.

“You guys were—”

“If you value your life, you will not talk about it.”

“But you were—”

“ _ Amber _ .”

“Never would have thought you call him ‘daddy’.”

“Amber!” Taemin’s cheeks were flaming red as Amber burst into a fit of laughter again, Jonghyun chuckling even through his pain. “Do  _ not _ talk about that.”

“Oh why not?” She gestured around them. “Only you and Mother Nature to hear. Not like it’s nothing new for you guys to hear, seeing as it’s about you.”

“Still...”

“He’s embarrassed and doesn’t want to admit it.” Jonghyun smirked when Taemin turned his glare on him. “Has been since the first time it happened 4 years ago.”

“But haven’t you guys only been… dating… three…  _ oh. _ ”

“Yeah.  _ ‘Oh’ _ indeed.” Taemin leaned back, looking at the bottom of the bridge instead of at the two now. “Happy to know?”

“But you were 13!”

“And?”

“And he was 17!”

“And?”

“You,” she turned to Jonghyun, finger pointed straight at him and more threatening than most would realize, “could have been arrested for that.”

“Probably could have been arrested for many things.” Taemin snorted and Jonghyun only shrugged when Amber looked at him in confusion. “Jjongie, how many clubs have we been to?”

“I don’t know, 20?”

“20 counts of sneaking in a minor, not to mention providing a minor with alcohol. Not to mention the illegal relationship. And the fact that you bought me probably hundreds of packs of cigarettes. And all the alcohol at your apartment.” He raised his head just enough to see the two. “Laws don’t really matter when you’re in love. I gave him my first blow job when I was 11, if that helps though. It was legal then.”

“That’s… a lot more than I needed to know.” Taemin gave a small laugh as his head fell back down.

“Don’t ask about our relationship and don’t bring it up then.”

“How’d you two meet?”

“Really? After all that you want to know more?”

“I mean,” she rested her head on Jonghyun’s shoulder, pulling closer to him to warm both of them up, “seeing as you told me you met when you were 13 before, obviously you were lying…”

“Fine.” Taemin turned to meet Jonghyun’s eyes. “You tell or me?”

“It hurts to talk…”

“I’ll tell then.” He sat up just long enough to move his head into Jonghyun’s lap. As the elder’s fingers started to run through his short hair, Taemin’s eyes flew closed. “I was a street whore. He was looking to lose his virginity.”

“ _ Oh. _ ”

“We hear that a lot about our relationship.”

“So that just… turned into boyfriends?” Jonghyun smiled as Taemin snorted and shook his head quickly, nose brushing against Jonghyun’s crotch on purpose—though he made it look like an accident.

“He decided to play Mr. Hero and was all like ‘you don’t have to sell your body when you’re so smart’ and I told him to fuck off because it was what I wanted to do.” Taemin cracked a small smile at the memory. “So he started coming to my corner and playing me to just go home with him and talk. Took 2 months for me to be able to give him that blow job. Then it became talk and some fooling around and  _ what do you know _ I stopped working the streets and just hopped trains into the city to talk with him and went back to school and shit and got my life together. Because for an 11 year old kid I had screwed up a lot.” Jonghyun paused in his stroking to scratch the top of Taemin’s head and he was practically purring at the sensation. “ _ Then _ came the sex and then Mr. Hero decided that wasn’t right so he asked me to be his boyfriend and I refused.” Amber snorted at that, looking between the two of them, but the duo was only smiling at the memory.

“It took him a whole year of convincing. Tried the most I ever have in my life then.” Jonghyun’s eyes dropped down to meet Taemin’s, their smiles getting even larger. “And I’m extremely grateful for that paying off.”

“That’s actually… really sweet.” She felt Jonghyun shrug under her head and Taemin only closed his eyes for slightly longer than normal before opening them again. “But how’d an 11 year old kid from the country know what a hooker was?”

“Not my choice, oh god no.” Taemin’s eyes got wider and darker during his pause, and Jonghyun even placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

“It’s okay Minnie. She’d understand if you didn’t—”

“It’s fine.” He gave a shaky breath.

“You really don’t have to—”

“It’s really fine.” His smile seemed more like a shell of one than a true smile. “It happened so long ago anyway. The past is the past.” The smile struggled to stay up and he eventually let it fall. “My dad abused me. I was working that corner from age 8 up because of him. Even after he died, I did it because it was all I knew. I liked the attention from customers, so I liked the job.” A lone tear fell from his eye and trailed down his temple towards the ground, but Taemin closed his eyes to stop more from following. “That’s why I was scared of Eunsook at first. Her step-dad… I met her when I was 9. Let’s leave it at that.”

“I never knew…”

“Neither did she.” Taemin shifted on Jonghyun’s lap and the elder put a hand on his chest, rubbing in a small circle to calm him as best he could. “He had brought me in and had opened the door to her room and all like ‘see him? You’re going to be like him tonight—obedient, always calling me daddy. But you have to be quiet to not wake him. Got it?’” Taemin shuddered with the breath he let out. “He became one of my regulars. So I saw her a lot as a child. But she never saw me.”

After that, Taemin turned into Jonghyun’s stomach, crying silently though both knew he was. Amber’s hand awkwardly rubbed circles on his back as Jonghyun whispered comfort to him, but nothing but time was able to stop the tears.

...

“Your nose looks like it’s healing nicely, h-hyung.” Amber cleared her throat, the word awkward coming from her mouth. “Does it still hurt?”

“Not as much as it did 3 weeks ago, that’s for sure.” He reached up, gingerly touching the tender appendage slightly. “It doesn’t look that different though…”

“It actually kind of does.” Amber went digging through her bag, coming back with a poster with his face on it. “At least, compared to the pictures they used of you. It’s a lot thinner and tinier looking so your whole face has a more doll-like quality to it.”

“Thanks, Ms. Beautician.”

“Don’t mock it! Being friends with Krystal taught me a lot!”

“Well that’s lovely but what are we supposed to do about this?” They both turned to Taemin as he gestured to the mop of blond and black hair on his head. “I know I’m supposed to be growing it out but this just looks ridiculous.”

Jonghyun gingerly reached forward for the strands tangling in Taemin’s face. “You  _ could _ make it into a choppy bob now…”

“And I have my bra you can wear and stuff it and you’d probably pass now.” Amber opened her bag, pulling out first a pair of scissors, and then the fabric she was talking about. Taemin held it with the tip of his finger as far away from him as possible, looking at it with disgust. “It’s not going to put itself on.”

Slowly, he turned to Jonghyun. “Will you still love me?” Before he could get an answer, he snorted and shook his head. “Hold this while I take my shirt off.”

Jonghyun’s eyes were trained on Taemin as he stripped out of the clothing until his skinny chest with all his ribs visible was seen. “You really have to eat more, Minnie…”

The boy didn’t say anything at first, taking the fabric instead and putting it on as Amber instructed before straightening and starting to stuff the tissues Amber gave him in. Eventually, though, as the first of many shirts went back on, he spoke. “We don’t have much money left and you guys need to eat more than I do. At least now I can go out and possibly get food or money from strangers if they think I’m a girl, but nobody would probably do that for two healthy looking teen boys.”

“You’re not going out alone on the streets of Daegu, looking very much like a helpless young girl.”

Taemin snorted. “Because I totally didn’t do that at a much younger age in Seoul. It’s fine. Really. You’re right though,” both Amber and Jonghyun looked at him in confusion. “I’m not going out ‘looking very much like a helpless young girl.’ I’m going out wear clothing I like and am comfortable in, and however people interpret that is their problem.” With his last shirt on, he cupped the new breasts on his chest before touching his hair again. “Let’s just cut this so I can go and get some cash while you guys go to the church meal.”

“You should come with us.”

“I’ll miss prime pick-up hour then.” He took the scissors from Amber’s hand, leaning over the sink to cut bangs himself and even out the ends, putting his glasses back on his face after. “Get a nice yummy biscuit for me. I’ll be back at the warehouse before midnight. I promise.”

...

“You’re such a good slut, you know, swallowing all of that for daddy~” Taemin choked when a hand clamped over his mouth full of semen from the disgusting man standing in the alley before him. “Swallowing, I said.” He shook his head, tears prickling at his eyes as some of the thick liquid trickled down his throat. “You should be glad I’m not fucking you senseless. Swallow, bitch!” A blade glinted and the faint glow of a streetlight, pressing against his neck, and Taemin swallowed quickly. “Good girl.” A hand ran through his hair, dirtying it though he had just washed it earlier. “Such a good girl. In fact, daddy should pay you back for that.”

“N-no!” Taemin tried to push the man off as he was pulled up to his feet, but he was too small in comparison, barely a breeze against the man. In less than a minute, he was pinned against the brick wall of the alley, hands held above his head as a knee pressed between his legs and a hand worked at his button and zipper.

Only after the man got in did he freeze, hand squeezing tight as his eyes widened. “You’re a fucking faggot? Fucking tranny!” The blade was suddenly there again, cutting into his cheek without a care as Taemin was dropped. Without waiting for the man to retaliate, he caught his footing and ran as hard and fast as he could out of the alley, tears streaming down his cheeks as he did. Not a single person helped.

...

He threw the wad of cash on the ground between the two, not a word said until they looked from it up at him. “Oh my god Taemin what happened to your face?”

“What happened to you? Are you okay?”

“Did somebody attack you?”

“Are you hurt?”

He slowly raised a hand to his cheek, wiping the blood and tears away and making the streak of red bigger. Without a word, his knees gave out and he fell, sobbing. Neither Jonghyun nor Amber could catch him in time, but both were by his sides not even a second after. “What happened, Taemin?”

“Eunsook…” The air was still and silent, only shaken when he started to sob again. “If that’s what Eunsook faced… in the last moments of her life…  _ nothing  _ can ever make it better.”

“Taemin?”

“He was going to kill me. If I didn’t run, he would have killed me. He wouldn’t have even cared. I wasn’t even considered a human to him.” Jonghyun’s arms wrapped around him and Taemin melted into the hold. “I’m so so sorry, hyung.”

“Can you tell us what happened, Taemin?” He slowly nodded, hiccupping as he tried to stop his sobs enough to speak. Both were patient, comforting him and holding him until Taemin started to speak.

“I was just trying to get sympathy… but this one guy started treating me like a hooker and offered so much just to blow him so I did it and he even dropped me off in front of a strip club so that more people would come to me and so I just did that because it was  _ money _ and we need it and it was like the fifth or sixth guy and he forced me to swallow it all and kept trying to have sex with me and he touched me and stuff and realized and he went psycho and he’d had this blade and, and, and…  _ I’m so sorry _ .”

“It’s not your fault, Minnie.” Jonghyun’s grip on him got a little tighter as he brought his head closer to Taemin’s. “Did he hurt you?”

Slowly, Taemin shook his head. “J-just the cut…”

“What did you mean with Eunsook?” Amber’s voice was quiet, gentle, but the question still hurt all of them. “What does Eunsook have to do with this?”

“He was calling me a tranny and a faggot and it was like I wasn’t even human to him then… like I shouldn’t have been alive…” Taemin’s eyes squeezed shut, tears leaking out from them. “And if Eunsook went through that… the person who hurt her deserves to die. I haven’t been through anything worse than that…”

...

“Hey, you three, wait up!” Taemin froze, Amber and Jonghyun on either side of him stopping as well as they turned to the voice that called to them. A boy around Jonghyun’s age smiled from the doorway of a shop, waving them over. Slowly, they went just close enough that he didn’t have to yell. “I’ve seen you,” he pointed to Taemin, “out here every night. It’s not safe, you know, sweetie.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“And the other girls on this street talk about your hair behind your back.” He winked at them. “Just thought you should know.”

“…why?”

“Because I can fix that.” He gestured to the sign—a unisex salon. “Come on in.”

“We can’t afford it.”

“Well this is on me. All three of you.” Slowly, Amber stepped through the door first, toting Taemin after her. The chairs were all empty, no one else in the shop. “I give free cuts to those who need, so you’re always welcome here.”

“Oh, um…” Taemin glanced at the two, who only shrugged at him. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

“After all, no one really  _ chooses  _ to be homeless. People need to be a little more respectful that some aren’t as fortunate as they are.” He finished tying the last string on his apron before clapping his hands together. “So who’s going first?”

...

“I’m going to fix up your hair, okay? So that those other girls stop being so nasty about it because it’s annoying trying to sleep when they are bitching about the ‘slut with the bad dye job getting all their customers’. Now it’s the beautiful lady with the amazing hair.” Taemin blushed as his hair was played with by the stylist. “Is that okay? I promise it’s all free, no charge or anything.” Slowly, he nodded. “Good! I’m just dying it back to black so your roots don’t contrast as they grow in.”

“Thank you. Really. You didn’t—don’t—have to do this.”

“Ah but I do.” As the man fluttered around him, Taemin found himself relaxing more and more into the chair. “Only a few years ago, I was like you guys. So I’m passing on the good deed that got me here. And I have some charge cards for you three, as well as a list of shops that will give you a discount or free things.  _ And _ places that give food or shelter.” Taemin went to speak, just for a deeper voice entering the room to cut him off.

“Who are they, Kibum?”

“Oh, shush, Jinki. I’m just helping them out.” He smiled at the man, leaning back when he came closer to peck the newcomer on the lips. “She’s been the talk of the girls outside so I’m fixing up her hair.”

“Did you give them some lunch at least?”

“I completely forgot!” He looked at Taemin in the mirror. “Are you guys hungry?”

“It’s fine—”

“Go get some food from upstairs, please, Jinks.” As he started to walk away, Kibum gave a small smile to Taemin through the mirror. “I’ve forgotten a lot today. I didn’t ask your names.”

Taemin gave a small smile, shaking it off. “I’m… Taeyeon.” He gestured to the two on the chairs in the corner, dozing off of each other. “J—” his eyes caught on the poster of them hanging on the wall behind the register, “Jongho and Minjae. Jongho’s my boyfriend.”

“Oh really?” Kibum raised a perfectly-shaped eyebrow at Taemin through the mirror. “And he’s cool knowing about… well, what goes on out there?”

“He understands I just do it because we need the money.” Taemin swallowed hard. “And it’s not like I actually go home with any of those guys. Just alleyway stuff, if you know what I mean.”

“Just be careful. There’s this one guy and he’s a little psycho. Especially for people like you.” When Taemin’s eyes widened slightly, Kibum dipped his head down towards his chest. “Stuffing’s peeping out, honey.” His hands shot up immediately, pushing the tissue back down though Kibum already saw. “It’s okay. Just be careful being who you are, because people around here aren’t always the most welcoming.”

“I already learned that the hard way.”

“I feared it was you he was yelling at.” A hand ghosted over the almost-healed cut on his cheek. “He did that?”

“Yeah…”

“I brought lunch!” The two in the corner broke apart as they woke suddenly from the yell, but Jinki walked back down with a tray of sandwiches in hand and a smile on his face. “Eat all you want, you three need it.”

As Kibum handed Taemin a sandwich, the boy stuck in the chair as work began on his hair, he couldn’t help the tears that pricked at his eyes. “Thank you both so very much.”

...

Snow was falling outside the warehouse when Taemin woke up to a clatter. Wide awake, he tapped both Amber and Jonghyun with his feet, head spinning as he tried to find where the noise had come from. “What’s wrong Minnie?”

“Someone’s here.” Amber joined him in looking around, their eyes peering through the darkness until a moving form stepped closer to the light. “Who are you and what do you want?”

“C-c-can I s-stay here? I-it’s cold out th-there…”

“It’s just someone like us, Tae.” Amber kicked Jonghyun again to get him up before answering. “Come here. We have a blanket and some candles you can warm up with.” Slowly, the stranger approached, Taemin’s hawk-like eyes watching their every step while Jonghyun slowly blinked to realization. Once he was close enough, Amber threw her blanket over his shoulders and pulled out a pack of matches, striking one to light a candle between all of them.

Able to see the person’s face, Taemin froze, mind racing as he tried to place it to any of the faces he had seen in their 8 months in Daegu. It was  _ familiar _ , as if he knew it, but none were coming to mind and yet he couldn’t forget about it. Even as hours passed and they got Minho—that’s what he said his name was—to open up and talked with him, Taemin still didn’t relax.

When morning came, without the others, he went off to Kibum’s salon, sitting in the warmth as he conversed with the stylist over the soft murmur of the news.

_ “8 months after his murder, new details are coming to light about transwoman Lee Jinki’s murder.” _

“Eunsook. Her name is Eunsook.” Kibum glanced at him, but Taemin didn’t care as he continued to listen.

_ “Original suspects Amber Liu, Kim Jonghyun, and Lee Taemin have yet to be found. Police have found new evidence that points towards their involvement being falsified. Instead, this case is now considered a hate crime. If these three are found, please call Crime Stoppers or contact your local police station—” _ Taemin couldn’t change the channel fast enough as their pictures came up and Kibum froze, looking from them to the poster and eventually to Taemin.

“You—”

He turned heel to run, just for Jinki to be coming through the door at the same time. Trapped, he turned back towards Kibum with the phone already in hand. “No! Don’t! I’ll explain but it wasn’t us! You heard her, didn’t you? We were  _ framed _ .”

“What are you—” Kibum stepped aside to reveal the poster and Jinki stopped, looking between it and Taemin before lunging for him. A roll of string came from a drawer behind the counter and before he knew it, Taemin found himself tied to one of the chairs without having even put up a fight.

“You better talk. I can’t believe I trusted you—”

“We didn’t do it. I swear. Eunsook was Amber’s girlfriend. Oh crap, Amber. Minjae was Amber. We cut her hair off. But she was Eunsook’s girlfriend and we were all really close because I wasn’t lying when I said Jonghyun—Jongho—was my boyfriend. And yeah, I’m Taemin.” He swallowed hard, words tumbling from his lips under the stares. “But we didn’t kill her. We were on a double date and we all went our own ways and she still had to cross over the river but she never got to and this guy Minho—” Taemin froze. “Oh  _ crap _ . You really have to let me go. Amber and Jonghyun are in danger.”

“How do we know you are telling the truth?”

“This guy Minho framed us and he’s with them now in the abandoned warehouse alone!” Taemin pulled against the string on his wrists, feeling it cut in but not caring. “Please, let me go! I have to help them because he might do something to them!”

Kibum looked up at Jinki, an eyebrow raised, and got a sigh back. “I’ll go check on them. The old shipping warehouse in the north corner, right?” Taemin slowly nodded and Jinki took a few steps back. “I’ll make sure they are safe.”

With him gone, Kibum turned back to looking at Taemin. He jumped up on the counter in front of him, staring at the boy with hard eyes. “Spill. Everything.”

“I did. We didn’t kill her.”

“Why’d you run then?”

“We were framed. Accused right from the start. The police were practically arresting us and we did what we could to be safe. If we were caught they would have never actually searched for the true killer.”

“And you think that’s this Minho guy?”

“I know it is. He’s jumped me before because of me and Jjong. And he…” Taemin swallowed hard again, tears coming to his eyes. “The psycho guy. It’s Minho. He attacked me the first month here when he thought I was trans.”

“But you’re not?”

Slowly, Taemin shook his head. “I’m sorry for lying but you really have to let me go and check on my friends.”

Kibum sighed but reached into his pocket, pulling out a pocket knife. In just a few seconds, the strings were cut and it was back in his pocket. “Just be safe and come back here so I know you are.”

“Thank you.” And Taemin took off running.

...

His feet pounded on the pavement loudly as he wove through crowds of people, covering over a mile already and still more than that to go, but he wasn’t giving up. Sweat made his long hair stick to his face but Taemin only pushed it back and away, caring less and less about how crazy he looked as the crowds of people thinned out to no one around the closer he got.

Before he was there, though, a hand was grabbing him from behind, sending him stumbling and falling as a shadow towered over him. “Long time no see, Taemin.” A blade glistened in the sunlight and he stared wide-eyed up at Minho as the older boy got closer and closer. A hand in his shirt collar pulled him to his feet and Taemin stumbled as he was thrown into an alley. Before he could stand, a body was straddling his waist as Minho sat above him. “How about a repeat of that night a few months ago?” Taemin gathered spit in his mouth but before he could send it flying, Minho placed a hand over his mouth. “Good girls swallow. Be a good girl now.” He bit on one of the fingers and Minho growled, the knife suddenly pressed against Taemin’s throat hard enough to draw blood. “Behave.” He shuffled up on the boy’s body, making sure his arms were still pinned down before letting go. “Come on, I know you can do this. Show me what you did that night with just your hot little mouth.”

The blade pressed harder and Taemin swallowed hard, shakily lifting his head up to bite the button undone, teeth grabbing the zipper and pulling it down slowly with a noise that seemed to fill the alley. Once that was done, Minho wiggled his pants and boxers down just enough, forcing Taemin’s mouth open as he thrust in and took control, leaving the boy to only follow directions or face cuts that littered his skin anyway. And when the time came, he smirked and held the boy’s mouth closed once again. “Good  _ boys _ swallow.” Only out of need of air did Taemin listen, choking on the thick substance as Minho laughed above him.

And mid-laugh was when he was tackled off, blade flying across the ground as multiple officers—in and out of uniform—held him down and cuffed him. It took almost a minute before he started to sit up, his arm that had been aching since he’d been there giving way under him, and a paramedic ran over to help him. At the mouth of the alley stood Amber and Jonghyun with officers around them, more than relieved to see Taemin give them a small wave as he was helped to his feet with only him one arm cradled close to his chest.

...

When the three stumbled off the train into the terminal in Seoul, applause came from all around. People they’d never seen before, faces they barely remembered after their months away, strangers were surrounding them on all sides and they huddled tight as police came even closer. A bubble was made, the trio paraded through the applause and cheers and shouts of encouragement and to the waiting police car. Not once did Jonghyun let go of Taemin’s left hand, nor Amber his casted right.

In a procession of police cars, they were led first to the riverside for a final reenactment of that night so long ago, their words ringing in the silent yet packed park as they spoke of walking together, admitted to their less-than-sober forms, Taemin revealing the man that had approached him and Eunsook earlier as being Minho.

And when they left, it was to one place they’d yet to ever see.

Eunsook’s grave.

Upon the sight of flowers and ribbons and rainbow flags everywhere, Amber broke into sobs, curling into Jonghyun’s chest as he wrapped an arm around Taemin’s shaking shoulders. Eventually, the youngest left their group and crouched by the grave himself, a shaking hand reaching out to touch the marble plaque. “ _ Fags and trannies like you all deserve to die a cruel, painful death. I’d gladly do it at my own hands. You hear that? I’m going to fucking kill you! All of you! You’ll never be able to run from me!” _

As his fingers traced the name, Taemin gave a small smile and a heartless laugh. “We beat him for you, Sookie. We did it…”

...

It was 3 months before Kibum came to the salon one day to three huddled bodies sitting on the front stoop, jackets pulled tight and breath puffing in clouds around them. “You guys are going to freeze to death out here.”

Without warning or reason, Taemin shot up, arms flying around the taller boy’s shoulders as he rocked back and forth, not letting go. “Thank you so so much.”

“What did I do?”

It was Jonghyun who cracked a watery smile, standing slowly as the cold stiffened his joints. “You saved our lives.”

“I mean… I gave you the best haircuts of your lives, but I don’t think I did any saving.” He opened the door, throwing it wide so that they entered first. Immediately, he hit the heat up and stripped out of his jacket and scarf, throwing the items on a random chair before looking at the three. “And I see I have to do that again.”

They all chuckled a little, hands flying up to the un-kept manes of hair they had. “We found out you were the one to call the police.”

“Well, I mean, when you have some teenager sobbing about this guy that wants to murder his friends and that sexually assaulted him, that’s normally what you do.”

“It’s still a lot more than what most people did for us.”

“Well most people suck.” Kibum smirked before squirming slightly, startling the three. “Excuse me for a minute.” As he waddle-walked to the stairs and then up, the trio had no idea what was wrong until he returned a few minutes later with a slight blush to his checks. With a glance at Amber, he gave a small laugh. “Don’t you hate when that time of the month comes a little earlier than expected?” When confusion clouded their eyes, he continued. “Packers and pads is not a comfortable combination, so sorry for my lack of dick at the moment.” With a laugh, he gestured to the empty front of his pants. “Anyway, as I was going to say~” He reached over and picked up a tray from the counter, unwrapping it and holding it out with a smile. “Have a cookie?”


End file.
